The Chinese National Press and Publication Association has issued a new rule to regulate online gaming behaviour in China. It is the latest step in a series of events that has seen the government take a much harsher stance on gaming than before.
Gaming addiction as main problem
Earlier in August the official news agency Xinhua had already published an article decrying gaming as “spiritual opium” that is harming the country’s youth. It even went so far to single out Tencent, one of the largest game developer companies in the world and the parent company of Riot, as root of the gaming addiction problem.
Now the government has issued strict regulations to follow up on the increasing pressure on the gaming industry. Although PC and console gaming will be heavily affected as well, mobile gaming seems to be the main target of the new regulations as titles like Tencent’s Honor of Kings have huge player numbers in China.
Stricter rules for underage gamers
Under the new rules underage players (<18) will be limited to one hour of play between 8PM and 9PM on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and public holidays. This results in just three hours of gaming time per week.
The previous rules had already limited young players to no more than 90 minutes per day and three hours on holidays. Developers are now required by the government to implement real-name registration and login systems to prevent minors from circumventing the rules.
Whether or not these new regulations will have the effect desired by the government remains to be seen, as even the existing rules were largely being bypassed through borrowing IDs of adult family members.
China is now the only country in the world that controls gaming hours by law. Previously South Korea also banned players under the age of 16 from playing after midnight, but the government recently decided to abolish its 2011 Youth Protection Revision Act
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